Part Three/3 of the Number Song Project

Blind mice, Muskateers, Stooges....and plenty of tunes with a three in the title

Photo by Sneaky Elbow on Unsplash

Yes, for those of you counting, I skipped #1 for this number song playlist project. But I haven’t forgotten; I’ll return to that finger-wagging, finger-pointing number later this year.

For now, our focus is on THREE. Songs with the word three in the title.

I contemplated including a very dark take on the Three Little Pigs nursery rhyme by the band Green Jelly but decided to mention it instead. Ditto Pink Floyd’s “Pigs: Three Different Ones” from their great 1977 album Animals. Those two tracks would have made a fantastic 1-2 punch, but the Floyd classic is over 10 minutes long, and I value your time.

I just paused to watch Green Jelly’s claymation video for “Three Little Pigs” and realized I had to share it with you.

I’ve included a Spotify playlist at the bottom of the post where you can play all 13 “Three” tracks. In the next section, you will find YouTube clips of each song, some of which I share alternate and live versions of the featured tune.

Let me know what you think of the picks in the comments! And share your favorites that I missed!

1. Three Times a Lady — Commodores

I just watched the excellent documentary The Greatest Night in Pop: The Making of We Are The World. Sure, the song is cheesy as hell, but witnessing Lionel Ritchie, Quincy Jones, and Michael Jackson write and develop this star-studded song to help “feed the world” is nothing short of riveting. The extensive behind-the-scenes footage brings you into the studio where so many music greats came together to sing together for the greater good.

This has led to me having Lionel Ritchie and Commodores on the brain, so including the classic “Three Times A Lady” was a no-brainer.

2. Three Little Birds — Bob Marley & The Wailers

There are a ton of excellent covers of this classic from Bob Marley & The Wailers, including a recent one with Skip Marley and Kacey Musgraves. But I had to go with the original, as nothing can beat what came first.

Sure, it’s an obvious choice, but I can’t imagine a playlist of “3” songs without it.

3. Three MC’s and One DJ — Beastie Boys

This stand-out from the Beastie’s Hello Nasty album is not only a brilliant track featuring the Boys tossing verses back and forth, but the brilliant music video shows Mixmaster Mike as the real star here.

4. Three — Massive Attack

Trip-hop legends Massive Attack enter this playlist with the dreamy “Three” from their 1994 album, Protection. This song got me playing the whole album, which immediately took me back to 30 (!) years ago when I used to play this on repeat for what was probably a month straight. So good.

5. Three — Lily Allen

I have Lily Allen’s 2018 album No Shame in my iTunes library, and I have no idea how it got there. I imagine it was from one of my many CD borrows from local public libraries (yes, I’m admitting to copying discs).

I don’t think I’d heard “Three” before assembling this playlist. To say it illustrates how Lily has matured over the years would be an understatement. Her patented snarky, biting wit has been replaced with genuine emotion and vulnerability.

The album version is lovely, but I was especially smitten by her duet with Jools Holland on his Later show.

6. One World (Not Three) — The Police

One of my all-time favorite tracks from Stewart, Andy, and Gordon. Their love of reggae and dub is all over this one. I hadn’t heard the version in the clip above before, which I’m guessing is from the 6-disc Synchronicity box set coming out at the end of July.

7. Three of a Perfect Pair — King Crimson

I love all eras of Robert Fripp’s King Crimson. And there have been several. Perhaps my favorite was the version from 1981 to 1985, when the band consisted of Fripp, Adrian Belew, Tony Levin, and Bill Bruford. The level of musicianship between the four of them on the three albums they would release — Discipline, Beat, and Three of a Perfect Pair — is legendary and sounds as timeless today as it did 40-plus years ago.

I’m going to see half of the band (Belew and Levin) in a couple of months when they join Steve Vai and Danny Carey (Tool) to perform as Beat, playing songs from these three classic albums. Robert Fripp has given the band his blessing.

The video above features students from the School of Rock program showing the oldsters how to perform the mighty King Crimson.

8. Number Three — They Might Be Giants

The most played and written about band on Earworms and Song Loops is back again with another silly, witty tune. This one is from their self-titled debut album (1986). When I found this live version above, it made me so, so happy. I think the two Johns ended up writing just a tad more than three songs. (I’d guess more than 300.)

9. Knock Three Times — Tony Orlando and Dawn

I grew up with Tony Orlando & Dawn playing in the house as a kid. I used to wonder if that’s how my parents met. If my dad lived above my mom and told her to “knock three times on the ceiling” if she wanted him. She probably tapped “twice on the pipe,” but Dad was persistent. Or had selective hearing, as most men do.

10. Three Legs — Paul McCartney & Linda McCartney

Is this song a dig at John Lennon? Probably. Though I’m pretty sure that Paul never admitted as much. It doesn’t matter, it’s a fun blues song that shows the Beatle and wife Linda in fine vocal form.

11. Gimme Three Steps — Lynyrd Skynyrd

One of my favorite, if not my favorite Lynryd Skynyrd songs. The tightest-loosest band in rock history (okay, maybe Crazy Horse, though I don’t think the Van Zants and the boys would want to be lumped in with Neil). I found a cool live version that I’m sharing above.

12. Three More Days — Ray LaMontagne

Here’s another live version. This one features Ray LaMontagne, whose voice drips with emotion and resonance in every syllable. I get strong Joe Cocker vibes.

13. One of the Three — James

I’m ending this playlist with one of my favorite songs by James, from their most commercially successful record, Laid. James might be one of the most underrated bands of all time. They’ve been putting out good to great albums since the mid-’80s and just released one of their best this year with their 21st album, Yummy. Yummy indeed.

If you didn’t get a chance to check out the previous posts/playlists for numbers “0” and “2,” click the boxes below:

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"Zero" Reasons Not to Listen to This Playlist

22 Songs 2 Celebrate 2 Years of Earworms

So there you have it! My top 13 songs to honor the #3.

• What songs did I leave out?

• Of the 13 on this list, do you have a favorite?

• I have a feeling that my options will thin out a bit for #4, coming next month. That’s a good thing!

Thanks for reading and listening.